April 13, 2009

Equality in the Restroom

Potty parity does not always mean that there will be the same number
of toilets for women and men. Parity is measured by wait times.

Studies
show that women take about twice as long as men in the restroom. The
reasons vary, from the obvious (the need to secure themselves inside a
stall, shed more clothes and use toilet paper) to the not-so-obvious
(menstrual cycles and the increased likelihood, compared to men, of
ushering small children).

Groups including the American Restroom
Association and the World Toilet Organization view quick access to
clean public toilets as no laughing matter. People with medical
problems, including bladder or bowel dysfunction, may not be able to
wait. Long waits can exacerbate other issues, including urinary-tract
infections.

For years, women have most dealt with the consequences, if not the indignity, of waiting in long lines.

New
York City passed a law in 2005 requiring that all new or significantly
renovated places of public assembly — concert halls, arenas, Broadway
theaters, stadiums and the like — have two women’s toilet fixtures for
every one devoted to men. About half of the states and many
municipalities have similar laws, with varying ratios, designed to
offset the extra time that women take in the restroom and slowly undo
decades of male-dominated design and construction.